Elderberry Tea Recipe – Reusing Elderberry Syrup Berries

Do you love elderberry syrup, but hate throwing away the used elderberries?  This this elderberry tea recipe is for you!

Elderberry Tea

Waste not, want not.  Why waste all those beautiful elderberries after you make your elderberry syrup?  Use them again by enjoying elderberry tea.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons organic elderberries
  • 8 ounces filtered water

Instructions

  1. Boil 8 ounces of water.

  2. Place 2 teaspoons of the organic elderberries into the water.

  3. Let sit 4-15 minutes depending on desired strength, add more elderberries if you'd like it stronger.

Recipe Notes

Since this will only use two teaspoons of your wet elderberries at a time, you can dry the used elderberries to keep using them as tea.  You have two options for drying your berries.

Drying Your Elderberries

Take the elderberries and place them in a dehydrator and dehydrate them until dry.

OR

Spread the berries across a jelly roll pan (the type with short edges) and turn your oven to its lowest setting.  Heat the elderberries until they are fully dry and store in a mason jar.

Supplies

Organic Elderberries - Check out Vitacost for better prices.
Dehydrator - if you purchase this, don't tell me . . . it will make me jealous
Mason Jars

 

I’m so I saved you from throwing out your elderberries!  That was a close call 😉  If you love me every so much more for saving you from this terrible deed, let me know!  Comment below or come over and visit me on my –> Facebook page.

Brooke Shambley
THE Boholistic Mom

Affiliate Disclosure

I am an Amazon Affiliate and the links included in this post (including some of the pictures) will take […]

DIY Elderberry Syrup Recipe – Home Remedies

Have you been thinking about trying your hand at making elderberry syrup?  Then this will be a great recipe to help you through your first attempt!  I tried a few other recipes and I was so frustrated with the instructions, my hope is that this recipe will make it all clear and help you get it right the first time!  Enjoy!

DIY Elderberry Syrup

Elderberries have been used through the ages to help people who are sick and need a boost.  Elderberry tonic, wine, and syrup have their place in history . . . and in our cupboards.  Use the recipe below to help you and your family build up their immunity and fight off any unwelcome visitors!

  • 4 cups filtered water
  • 1.5 cups organic elderberries
  • 2 teaspoons dried ginger ((or 2 tablespoons fresh))
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon ((or you can add in a cinnamon stick))
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
  • 1 cup raw honey ((local raw organic is best; organic is next best))
  1. Fill pot with 4 cups of filtered water and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Note: Do NOT add raw honey at this point.

  2. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  The liquid will reduce by half.  Note:  Do NOT cover.

  3. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool.

  4. Pour the elderberry juice through a colander or strainer into a bowl.

  5. Save the elderberries!*

  6. Let the liquid cool almost completely to keep the raw honey from being heated.

  7. Mix the honey into the elderberry juice stirring until fully combined.

  8. Pour the mixture into mason jars or glass bottles.

  9. Store your DIY Elderberry Syrup in the refrigerator.

Adults can take one teaspoon daily for wellness and children 1/2 to a teaspoon. Increase […]

The Spiritual Battle for Your Health

Health and Faith.  What does real food, doctor’s visits, and exercise have to do with our spiritual life?  Many people insist that there is no correlation, saying that our faith is compartmentalized to the church, to the spiritual, and to the supernatural, while our bodies and health are a part of the flesh, the natural, and the physical world.  If this is true, then why does God tell us to worship Him with our strength?  I assert that, in fact, there is a spiritual battle going on for our health and especially for our strength.

Spiritual Battle for Your Health

The Spiritual Battle for Your Health

Recently, I have been spending time reading Priscilla Shirer’s book, Fervent.  She talks about the most common areas of our life that Satan tries to attack.  I honestly haven’t gotten to the chapter about strength yet, but just reading the first few chapters has stirred my thinking.  With the health of so many children and adults declining due to poor dietary choices, “bad genes,” and health problems that are plaguing people from birth, how can we not attribute this to the work of the one who steals, kills, and destroys?  Satan is more than happy to covertly steal our health, kill our hopes for living without a disability or health issue, and destroy our body.  And he’s using us to do it.

In Luke 10:27, Jesus tells us that the two greatest commandments are “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  We focus greatly on worshiping God with our heart, soul, and mind, but we contentedly allow […]

6 Reasons You Need to Quit Coffee For Good – Boholistic Mom

6 Reasons to Quit Coffee For Good | Boholistic Mom

Why am I suggesting that you quit coffee?

If you know me personally, you know that I adore coffee.  I used to imbibe a cup (or two) of coffee each morning with cream and sugar.  Then I lived in Italy for three years and consumed copious amounts of cappuccino, espresso, and macchiato.  When we returned to the States, I tried my first Whole 30 . . . which worked great because it allowed you to have coffee, though it was without a sweetener.  So I gave up my honey and haven’t looked back, okay . . . well I do miss it, but now I don’t like it in my coffee.

As you can see, I have been an avid coffee drinker.

Or more honestly, a coffee addict . . .

I’m a lightweight.  While some people have to drink three of four cups a day to suffer withdrawal symptoms, I can drink one tazzo of espresso and have the same withdrawal.  Or just one cup of french press.  I feel what the coffee does to my system and I feel when its gone.

I’m starting with my history because it is important that you know I’m not some stupid tea drinker telling you to give up your coffee.  I am a coffee addict/lover who has realized that I can’t keep pretending it isn’t an addiction that is challenging my health.

Today, I’m going to share with you 6 reasons you need to quit coffee for good.  For me, this has been a long time coming and I need to get this out there so others know what I’ve learned.  Your health is worth reading this […]

Healthy Weight: What is it and how do I maintain it

What is Your Healthy Weight | BoholisticMom.com

We live in a society where mixed images of people fill our mind.  We see stick figures parading around in fashionable clothes on a runway as the ideal mobile hanger for fashion.  We see larger voluptuous women who are demanding to be recognized as beautiful and embraced for their size.  We have people who are pear shaped, apple shaped, larger shouldered people, and people with medical problems.  In the light of all of these shapes and sizes, what is the healthy weight and how do we maintain it?

Healthy Image

First and foremost, I must start with self image.  It really doesn’t matter if a woman is large, small, tall, or short . . . if she has a poor self image, she will believe herself to be not beautiful.  This happens to me as well.  I know that I am very close to my ideal weight, but when I look in the mirror, I judge.  I am MY WORST critic.

Even though I have these feelings of self doubt, I shake myself off and I have to constantly remind myself of the truth.  This is the truth that I want you to take with you today.  My true self identity is in no way connected to my body.  Let me repeat that . . .

Your true self identity is in no way connected to your body.

Our body changes constantly.  We are born as a baby.  We grow into a child.  We go through puberty and change a heap.  We become young adults and then full adults.  Our bodies are in a constant state of flux from 0-21.  After our childhood growth slows, […]

Four Food Myths to Watch Out for

 

Four Food Myths | Boholistic Mom

I am a little worked up about health lately.  So many people around me are ill and I want to do something about it.  I truly believe that a lot of illnesses are preventable, treatable, and, most importantly, brought on by false nutritional education.

Many illnesses are preventable.

I believe that we were created to have good health.  Why don’t have good health then?  Many of the reasons that we have poor health is due to the fact that we have forgotten the traditions of health passed down to us from our parents, their parents, and up the generational lines.  We are to respect and honor our parents, but we have rejected the wisdom of the past.

I’ve put together four food myths in order to underline four easy ways that a family can change their health by beginning to make small changes in their eating and drinking.  Consider these myths and please feel free to ask questions by commenting at the bottom of this blog.

Four Food Myths

“Fats are bad.” – FALSE

Processed, factory-made fats are horrible for you. They need to stop being served as food. However, natural fats from olives, coconuts, and even grass-fed (or naturally-fed) animals are essential for health. Without real fats, the body suffers.

 

“Water is healthy.” – FALSE

Not all water is healthy. The government has decided to allow chemicals, drugs, and other pollutants to remain in our water in small amounts. They have decided that these small amounts are allowable. Healthy bodies may be able to filter these pollutants, but let’s face it, who is actually healthy these days? Consider researching filters for your drinking water. Your kidneys will thank you.
“Grocery […]